Broad goals being considered for Amarillo's next 20 years on Wednesday evening met an audience divided about those goals' potential impact.

Some who attended the public forum at the Amarillo Civic Center Grand Plaza applauded the cultivation of a proposed comprehensive plan that will guide city ordinances and policies for the next two decades.

Others expressed fear that some areas of town would be slighted or the goals would result in higher taxes.

A 21-member steering committee appointed by the Amarillo City Commission gathered input at community meetings across the city and then spent more than a year working what they heard into a draft comprehensive plan with the help of a consulting firm.

Wednesday's meeting was scheduled for the Amarillo Planning and Zoning Commission to gather public feedback regarding the committee's draft plan.

The planning commission must decide, at a meeting this month, if it will recommend the proposed plan's adoption to the City Commission. Both bodies must approve the plan for it to become the official guiding document for the city.

Fransetta Crow, who participated in an early focus group that provided input into the plan, expressed concern that it did not specify actions for addressing problems in north Amarillo.

"It sounds good, and it looks good on paper," Crow said. "But I, for one, can say I haven't seen anything projecting anything about north Amarillo. Have parts of the city been omitted and neglected?"

The plan seldom mentions particular parts of town, said City Planning Director Kelley Shaw, because its contents are meant to guide city policies and regulations that will affect the city as a whole.

But one key, Shaw said, is that the draft calls for better planning at the neighborhood level, so that solutions can be developed for issues specific to particular areas.

"From those community meetings, we know that there are several areas of the city that need to be looked at," he said.

Beth Duke, a member of the steering committee, said the panel stayed mindful of all areas.

One example, Duke said, was the committee's attention to the concerns of east and north Amarillo residents who must drive across town to access retail businesses or go to a movie.

The plan urges the city's use of incentives and other tools to encourage developers to recruit retailers and entertainment businesses to locate in, and revitalize, established areas, she said.

Irma and Eloy Heras stated concerns that the goals would mean more regulation for the Plemons-Eakle neighborhood, where they live, and cost them more in the long run.

Eloy Heras said developers should pay for the public infrastructure needed to serve their projects, whether those be new neighborhoods or redeveloped areas.

"I just don't want our taxes to go up," he said. "Not at this time."

The City Commission voted on Tuesday to hold the city's property tax rate for the 2010-11 fiscal year at the same level it was during the current fiscal year.

But Lilia Escajeda, who co-chaired the city Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee, said the city likely will need to raise taxes or find new revenue sources in the future to maintain city infrastructure, grow and offer the amenities residents have said they want.

"The 'tax' word is a bad word around here," she said. "We want a lot of things, but we don't want to pay for it. ... It's going to take a lot of teamwork and it's going to take money."